Courtesy of Tor.com, Daniel Abraham’s original story set in the WIld Cards shared-world universe is now available on-line. “When We Were Heroes” features Curveball and Bugsy, two characters introduced in the “new” Wild Cards trilogy that began with 2008’s Inside Straight. Tor.com suggests that this is the first of several stories George R.R. Martin has commissioned in the wake of the success of Fort Freak.

In further news, over at “Not a Blog” GRRM has noted that the follow-up to Fort Freak, Lowball, is nearly done, and that the third novel in this trilogy—High Stakes—will be in progress immediately after Lowball has been delivered to the publisher.

Wild Cards is the longest-running shared world series out there, and has seen new life in the last few years. The interest has been high enough that Tor has begun to reissue the original novels, including the terrific Wild Cards and Aces High that started it all. In fact, Tor and the Wild Cards consortium have gone so far as to include brand new stories to include with the reprints. Joker’s Wild, the third reprint, is scheduled for a February 2014 release, while new stories for the Aces Abroad reprint have been commissioned (as an aside, Aces Abroad features Martin’s “The Journal of Xavier Desmond”, used as an interstital for the novel; it’s one of the most touching things he’s ever written, and well worth the read even if you’re not a fan of the Wild Cards universe).

Wild Cards has featured quite an array of writers, including Walter Jon Williams, Howard Waldrop, John Jos. Miller, Roger Zelazny, George R.R. Martin (of course), and quite a few notable names. Newer authors who’ve been brought into the fold include the aforementioned Abraham, Carrie Vaughn, Ian Tregillis, and David Anthony Durham, all excellent writers in their own right. Definitely worth checking out, if you’re interested in Martin or in superheroes.